What is Hindering You?
By Mother Doris Cassidy
Sometimes in life while trying to reach your full potential in Jesus Christ, you find yourself faced with the cares of this world and other distractions, like stumbling blocks. These stumbling blocks can, if you let them, cause one to lose focus on the Master. A stumbling block can impact your life physically and spiritually. Stumbling blocks can hinder your growth, which can cause your dreams to die. Maybe there have been times in your life when you truly wanted to grow, but distractions, weights, or life trials and tribulations held you back. Perhaps you felt like you were in static water or maybe some force was holding you back. Let God empower your life to surpass and walk in victory to move pass these hindrance and break the cycle of these weights. The Bible clearly states in Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” As Christians, we must continue to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Let me ask you one question: what is hindering you spiritually and physically and do you have any stumbling blocks in your life? Some of my stumbling blocks were fear, making excuses and, yes, human nature – because we don’t like change.
My first stumbling block was fear. Webster’s definition for fear is “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by expectation, an instance of fear or a state marked by fear, a concern about what may happen.” Fear is the most general word and suggests great worry and usually loss of courage. Fear was stopping me from going forward in my life to achieving my goals. My church mother once told me that fear was false evidence appearing to be real. I realized that fear was a spirit messing with my mind. When fear grips your mind, you have no faith, no courage, and you don’t have confidence in yourself. I decided to put my fears behind me and press forward. I was like most people, struggling to find confidence, which would hinder me from going forward in life. Sometimes people that lack self-confidence can find it difficult to become successful. Therefore, I knew the importance of gaining confidence in writing down and overcoming my fears. The Bible states in Philippians 4:13 that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
My second stumbling block was making excuses. Webster’s definition for excuse is “something offered as justification or as grounds for being excused.” Also an excuse may be an expression of regret for failure to do something. Sometimes in life, when we are unable to reach a decision, we make excuses. We all have probably used over a thousand excuses, not to work, go to school, cancel a date and miss church. Excuses are usually made because we don’t feel like doing one thing or other. In the military, I made the excuse that the mission came first, as my excuse not to attend college. One of my biggest excuses down through the years was I didn’t want to miss church, or I had been out of school over 35 years and lacked confidence in myself. Several years ago, I discussed this matter with my pastor. He encouraged me to make a positive change in life and pursue my education goals. If you have dreams and all you see are stumbling blocks, it can prevent you from accomplishing your dreams. QUIT MAKING EXCUSES.
The third stumbling block I faced was change. Webster’s definition for change is “to make radically different.” It’s human nature that most people don’t like change, so they struggle to adapt. Making a change in my life to attend college meant that my lifestyle would be altered. I would have to modify my schedule and undergo a transformation. One of the major changes would be changing my daily routine. I realize not all changes are bad. Some changes are for our good. I had to make a shift in my life, visualize that goal and just get started.
When you set a goal, don’t let stumbling blocks hinder your dreams. If your stumbling block is fear, don’t be moved by fear; be moved by knowledge. Just in case your stumbling block is excuses, quit making excuses, and take the opportunity to pursue your dreams. Don’t let your dreams die. If your stumbling block is change, make that transformation and reach for your goals. Finally, I made the decision to make that change and attend Strayer University, which was a life changing experience. But with God’s help, I graduated with honors in 2014 with my Bachelor of Science in Accounting (Summa Cum Laude). Therefore, God transformed my mind and I overcame my stumbling blocks and continued to further my education, graduating in 2016 with my Master’s Degree.
So let me end with this last question: what is hindering you?